9/9/16

There have been multiple reports in the past stating Samsung’s efforts to develop an in-house GPU for its mobile processors. The company’s Exynos chipset with a GPU developed internally was expected to be ready in time for the Galaxy Note 5, but the plan didn’t materialise. We’ve now received additional information regarding the matter.

Currently, Samsung is using ARM’s Mali series of GPUs in its Exynos chipsets. According to information that we’ve received, Samsung is in talks with both AMD and Nvidia to license their GPU technologies. As of now, Nvidia seems to have an upper hand due to its superior Pascal architecture. However, that doesn’t mean AMD could be ruled out, especially since Sony just announced its PS4 Pro gaming console with 4K gaming that uses AMD’s Polaris architecture.

An Exynos chipset with HSA support is rumoured to arrive next year. Samsung is also working hard to add CDMA support in its Exynos chipsets, and the company is planning to test its upcoming SoC on CDMA networks in September 2017. The Exynos-powered Galaxy S9 is expected to support CDMA networks, which could mean that the South Korean smartphone giant could dump Qualcomm’s Snapdragon solutions for good in the coming years.